Lover of the Light
by CecilaAlice
Summary: Lily was your average girl with an average life, even after her parents disappeared and she was placed in an orphanage, but she wanted more. She wasn't asking for fame and fortune, but the same routine day after day was almost exhausting. However this was not what she expected. What is they say? Be careful what you wish for.


**hello, my dears.**

**this has been sitting in my head for quite a while and i've finally got around to putting it down on paper. i hope you enjoy!**

**disclaimer: i only own lily.**

**stay beautiful!**

Lillian "Lily" Jane White fished for her car keys by the light of the street lamps that lit up the parking lot of her current mall job, making her way toward her average, but in complete working condition, car. Once she pulled the keys from her purse she pushed the strap back onto her shoulder with a sigh. It had been another long, boring day at the salt mines, just like every other day. And just like every other day, she would go home, find something to watch on Netflix, and sit there with her tea until she fell asleep. It was exhausting and completely, utterly boring. In reality, she longed for some sign to tell her what she was supposed to be doing, or at least, a sign to lead her down a more exciting path than this one. Her dad had always encouraged her to live and "outstanding" life. You only get one, so don't waist it. She wasn't expecting to become famous or win a Nobel Peace Prize or anything, but this was never the life she imagined, before or after she became an orphan. Ever since her parents vanished when she was eight, her life had been surprisingly average. Once they placed her in the orphanage, she grew up with average grades and average looks, or, at least, so she thought. She had an abnormal love for books, tea, and British things, however she considered herself an all-around average girl with the usual child abandonment issues: unanswered questions, blaming herself, a deep, black whole where her parents should have been, all of the wonderful things that came with your parents disappearing. Most would say that she turned all of that into sarcasm, or attitude, depending on who exactly you spoke to. She was nice to people, but she had a tendency to want to slap people who irritated her, but instead a witty remark usually escaped her lips with zero filter and 99% of the time, she didn't much care. No one ever gave her any sympathy, so why should she give it to anyone else?

She hit the unlock button on her keys and waited for her headlights to light up so she could see where she was going. She was no less than five yards away from her vehicle when some very angry voices reached her ears. She stopped, looking around. Of all of the perimeters she built up around herself, a physical one was not on that list. She protected herself mentally and emotionally with the strongest of walls, however she never learned to fight. The orphanage was one of the safest places in the city so she never felt the need; even when she started living on her own she lived in a safe enough neighborhood that she never even considered it. However in that moment, she almost wished she had.

"I can't believe you lost one!" the harsh whisper reached her ears and she placed a key between her fingers. She may have never learned to fight, but she wasn't stupid. She was a young female living on her own, she wasn't about to get raped or murdered. Not on her watch. When the voices were too low for her to understand she continued towards her car, very wary of the potentially dangerous situation, however the closer she got, the louder they got. At that point she probably should have called security to escort her to her car, but she didn't want to seem paranoid. She could handle herself, right? She attempted to ignore the argument, but she couldn't resist eavesdropping.

"This is the last round-up of Oysters until the ring is found and you lose one?" the same voice was still speaking and he sounded furious. She pushed her unlock button again when she reached her vehicle out of habit and her headlights flashed. Suddenly, the voices stopped, and so did her heart. There were several of them shushing each other and she knew that this was not going to end well. She should have called security when she had the chance.

"Just take her. It doesn't matter who it is, as long as it's an Oyster." A different voice said. Were they talking about her? And what the hell was an Oyster? She pulled at her car door with shaky hands, praying that it wasn't actually her that they were talking about, but her worst fears came alive when it grew quiet for no more than five seconds before someone grabbed her from behind. Her first reaction was to scream, but they slapped a hand over her mouth and began to drag her away. She dropped her purse and keys and took hold of her attacker's forearm, biting down on his hand and he yelped, removing his hand, but his grip around her body remained. He was much stronger than she was and she knew that physically, she wasn't going to get away, so she resorted to screaming at the top of her lungs, but it was no use. There wasn't anyone else around to hear her.

"In the van!" the original voice demanded, "Come on, I don't have all night!"

The creak of an old van door sounded behind her as she continued to kick and scream, fighting her attacker for what it was worth. If she was going down, she was going down fighting. She cried out when she was unceremoniously tossed into the back of the van, sitting up just as the door was slammed shut and she called out in protest. She crawled up to the door and banged on it until her fist was bruised. The men that had taken her were ignoring her completely and the van was beginning to move. She attempted to keep her balance but when the driver took a curve a little too fast she was slung around the back, hitting her head on something solid and she blacked out.

* * *

Lily woke up with a pounding headache, considering herself lucky when she opened her eyes and there wasn't a whole lot of light, certain that it would've only made it worse. She sat up slowly, massaging the spot that the ache was resonating from and trying to get a good look at where she was. She was sitting in water that wasn't even an inch deep, surrounded by a series of long hallways in all four directions. It was very poorly lit and some of the lights were even flickering a bit. It reminded her of a scene from a horror movie, if she was honest. She stood up to have a look around, using the wall to feel where she was going in the dim lighting and trying to get a little bit more knowledge as to where exactly she was and how she was to get out. Just around the corner she found a very small room with an all glass table sat in the middle. She approached it and found a small bottle that had been placed on the surface with a tag that read 'Curiosity'. Lily's eyebrows furrowed and she set it back down and took a step back, untrusting everything around her. Two of the walls were padded and white, not unlike a psychiatric hospital and she made a face. That couldn't possibly be a good sign.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Lily turned around when she heard someone speak and immediately dived behind a couple of crates a few feet away, hoping that whoever it was hadn't notice her. She watched from her hiding spot, peeking out over the top of the box as an older gentlemen, dressed in a grey suit with long white hair separated into two low ponytails, scurry in with three men in black suits, numbers and card symbols printed on their left shoulder, following him.

"What the hell do you mean you dropped her?" the old man said and Lily recognizing his voice as one of the men that kidnapped her.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. You said to hurry." One of the black suited men spoke with a quivering voice, obviously intimidated by this elderly man. He must have a lot of power.

"Yeah, hurry and get her to a honeycomb capsule, you idiot! Now there's an Oyster wandering around Wonderland and we have no idea where she is."

"I'm sorry, sir."

The older man rolled his eyes, "Never you mind now, Alice has followed me through the Looking Glass and she'll be coming around the corner at any moment."

The group walked away from Lily and down the hall, looking around as if they didn't want to be seen and she furrowed her eyebrows. Wonderland? Is that what they called this place? Behind her, she could hear footsteps growing closer and she sunk down further behind the crates. A girl with long, dark hair in a blue dress and red tights came around the corner, just as the gentleman had predicted, observing her surroundings much like Lily had just done. The girl approached the glass table as well; picking up the small bottle and setting it back down after examining the tag. She walked away from the table and towards one of the white walls, sliding open one of the mail slots that Lily hadn't noticed were there before. Lily took a chance and stood, slowly and carefully, watching out for her captures. She had a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach about this place and she wanted to warn the girl that those men were hanging around somewhere. She'd only took a few steps when she heard the splash of water and she whipped her head around, noticing the elderly man and his cohorts peeking around the corner of one of the hallways. They were watching their every move and it was making her anxious.

"Hello?"

The girl spoke very attentively, unsure if Lily was a friend or foe and she understood. They were in a strange place where, as far as she knew, neither of them knew anybody, but she needed to warn her that they were being watched.

The girl gave her a look and Lily put a finger to her lips, uncertain of whether or not the men knew that she was aware of their presence. The girl was suddenly hesitant and Lily bit her lip, approaching her with her hands in front of her where the girl could see them and once she was standing next to her she spoke in a whisper.

"We're being watched." She said. The girl looked taken aback, but neither of them had any time to react. Two more white padded walls had risen up from the floor and had blocked them in before either of them had time to think. They started pushing on the walls and ceiling that had also come down too close for comfort and panic rose up in Lily's chest.

"What's happening?" the girl called out, fear apparent in her voice and Lily knew the feeling. It didn't look like the walls were going to stop, but as soon as Lily was about ready to give up, they did, however both girls had been forced to the ground with barely enough room to turn around. They were both breathing heavy and looking around for a way out with no luck when one of the mail slots shot open to reveal electric blue eyes staring in at them and Lily knew it was the man that had kidnapped her. She glared at him.

"Good. We have both of them." He stated, "Take them away."

"Let us out of this thing!" Lily yelled. Was this guy serious?

"Temper, temper."

"What the hell is this place?" the girl in the blue dress followed, but the man shrugged off her question.

"You shouldn't have come after me, little Oyster."

Lily's eyebrows creased at his comment. Little Oyster? What did that even mean? She opened her mouth to argue with him some more but the door shut and the girls yelped as the box was lifted up off of the floor and they were surrounded in total darkness. All of Lily's confidence slipped away and she reached out for the girl in the blue dress next to her until light poured into through a crack at the bottom of the box. She took a deep breath and let go of the poor girl, trying to calm down her racing heartbeat.

"I'm sorry," she said, "The dark is not my, er, cup of tea." she confessed. There were not a lot of fears that she had to own up to in this world, granted they were still in their own world (however she was seriously beginning to doubt it), but the dark was just something she didn't think she'd ever get over, as much as she hated to admit it. The girl gave her a weak smile and held out her hand for Lily to shake.

"I'm Alice." She said.

Lily shook it her hand, "Lily."

Alice nodded and took a deep breath, "How are we gonna get out of here?"

Lily inspected their small space, assessing that there was no way out that she could see, however that didn't mean anything to her. She and Alice began to feel around the box, hoping for a malfunction in their small prison and Lily's eyes lit up when she ran her fingers under the wall where what little light they had was seeping in from under it. She thought she could feel the lock with the very tip of her fingers and she leaned down as best as she could in the small space and attempted to unhook the lock but even as tiny as her hands were, she needed something smaller.

"Do you have a bobby pin or something?" she asked and Alice reached up to pull just what she needed from her long hair, handing it over to Lily who thanked her in haste and went to work trying to free them. They both held their breaths while she worked; giving her every advantage she could get to get them out of there. They heard the click of the latch and screamed when the floor fell out from under them. They reached out to grab the edge of the crate to keep them from falling several stories down into the huge body of water they were dangling over. They clearly hadn't thought this plan through.

"Now what do we do?" Alice said, trying her hardest not to look down. Lily looked around, judging what options they had before speaking. They really didn't have much of a choice.

"We're gonna have to drop." She said, eyeing Alice who didn't really seem happy about it but it wasn't like they had a lot of options. She took a deep breath and nodded her head.

"On three," Lily declared, "One…two…"

"Three!"

They screamed as they plummeted towards the water below, sucking in a breath just before they hit the surface. Lily was sure they dove thirty feet under when it took her several beats to break the surface again. She sucked in a breath, trying to stay afloat and turning circles looking for Alice. She came up right next to her moments later, coughing up some of the water that she had accidently sucked in when they dropped from the crate. They were both breathing heavy, trying to catch their breath with the adrenaline still pumping in their veins as they watched a giant flying machine carry away the crate they had escaped from along with several others.

"What is that?" Lily asked. There was a huge search light surveying the water where the girls were floating and they watched it roam the area until it passed right over Lily's shoulder. She hissed at the burning sensation that illuminated from the spotlight and a very intricate, green vine inked itself into her skin. She made a face and used the palm of her hand to try and wipe it away but it was no use, it wasn't going anywhere.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked and she nodded, trying to forget about her new tattoo and figure out their next move.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked around, wading in the water to keep afloat, "Where to now?"

Alice was doing the same thing, obviously a step ahead of her. She nodded toward what appeared to be a city of some sort; however it was definitely going to take them a while to get there. It wasn't exactly close by. She started swimming and Lily took a deep breath before following her, both of them unaware of the adventure they were swimming into. They were in for the journey of their lives.

**reviews would be great, i'll even take some constructive criticism if you fancy it.**

**have a lovely day.**


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